I've been watching Black Mirror lately (and by lately, I mean slowly over the course of several months.) I can't comment on how "good" it is, since that's hard to define. I will say that it is very smart and very well put together, but it's also very depressing. Maybe the most genuinely depressing thing I've ever watched (there are things I've watched that make me feel more depressed, but the feeling is just a fleeting emotional impact as opposed to Black Mirror's depression that is something deeper.)
In case you're not aware of the show, each episode of Black Mirror is self contained and takes some form of technology that is already changing how we interact and dials it up to 11 trying to demonstrate the worst thing that could possibly happen. For example, without being too spoiler-y, there is an episode where there is an online popularity/rating system and people rate other people in almost every interaction they have with them. This spills over into not just social interactions, but also for businesses only offering certain discounts or deals to people whose overall rating is of a particular height.
The main characters in these near-future dystopias always experience absolutely horrific events surrounding these technologies and how they've warped social interaction.
The thing that is so terrifying (and depressing) about the show is that every single episode pulls from technology that we're already familiar with. It pulls from interaction trends that we're already familiar with. It is easy to see how we are creating these terrifying futures.
However, I was thinking about it this morning, and something stood out to me:
The main characters experience the bad side of these worlds, but almost everyone else is completely happy with them.
A lot of times, the technology is embraced by a character who is portrayed to the audience as "bad." Maybe not evil, but usually at least a bit of a jerk. It creates this dichotomy in our minds. Even though the main characters aren't necessarily good people, we tend to empathize with them. The jerks embracing the "bad" technologies further restate the evils of these technologies to the minds of the audience.
But what about everyone else? What about the people who created and participate in this world? In general, people are accepting of the *thing*, be it a rating system, or contact lenses that record all their memories.
The point is, the horrific experiences of the protagonists are not the norm in their societies. The protagonists get the worst of it. They are the outliers. This seems like it's either an oversight on the part of the show, or it's an indication that within the rules of the settings, the technologies aren't actually that bad/aren't actually having that negative of an impact on most people's lives.
(Season 1 Episode 2 is sort of an exception to this, but that's also the episode where it seems the most like there are powerful people intentionally utilizing the technology to their advantage/to everyone else's disadvantage as opposed to the other episodes which seem to rely more on the technology gaining power via the people just embracing it on their own.)
Of course, I think that the truth is something simpler, and it doesn't have anything to do with the societies presented in Black Mirror or technology at all. It has to do with how we tell stories.
That is, when we tell stories, we focus on an individual. In Black Mirror, that individual is being used to show us the dark things of their world. We don't tell stories from the standpoint of society as a whole. Apart from not being sure how we would do that, we relate to people, not societies.
I mean, we can't even relate to our own society, how would we be supposed to relate to that of a hypothetical future world?
So, in Black Mirror, the point is driven home not by saying "society is suffering because of this," but rather by saying "this relatable person is suffering because of this." Our minds naturally make the jump to the first conclusion even though it doesn't necessarily hold true for the worlds in which the stories take place.
So, is it still valid to consider the points that the show makes?
Yes, I think so. While the experiences of the protagonists aren't the standard experiences of their societies, I think the warning is that their rate of occurrence might be higher if those same technologies were applied the same way to our society. I.e. if we used those technology, the horrific experiences might be the average experience. Or, at least, they could happen with greater frequency than they seem to in the show.
Of course, some of my question might be: If a significant number of people are/will be having this trouble with these technologies/societal structures, would our society as a whole allow it to get to that point of control? I want to say no, but there are a lot of existing structures that harm a great number of people a good portion of the time, so I could be wrong.
How it concerns me:
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the idea of building a better future is one that is near and dear to my heart. I am very pro-progress and the development of new technologies. My Heroism and Other Lies series tries to look at both the good and the bad sides of it, but it's less optimistic than something else I'd like to write later on.
It seems to me that a lot of futuristic sci fi is very pessimistic. I worry that this creates a society where we are afraid to look forward (instead choosing to fear the future, embracing nothing but nostalgia and present, fleeting, pleasures). I worry that it creates a society where we are afraid of progress. I want the sci fi that shows how cool technological development can be, and how it can and will make our lives better, not worse.
That said, I don't want us to just advance without thinking about the societal impact of things. I don't want us to advance without considering the philosophical and moral implications of what we're developing. I don't want profit-driven businesses to just push out new programs and technologies without considering the ramifications to society. Black Mirror serves a purpose of looking very critically at this angle. I think fiction that tries to prevent the bad futures serves an important role. I just am not sure it's reaching the people who need to hear it, and some of it is pulling down the people who could look upwards with hope.
Black Mirror is pretty dark, though the episode where dead people are uploaded into a virtual paradise was downright sweet it was the only show of its kind in the series. But I don't think that science-fiction changes the way people think about technology. Is there a sci-fi fan in all the world who isn't also rapidly, even morbidly, technophile? Really, if anything, sci-fi fans are so bedazzled by technological progress that they think it will fix all of the world's problems. Sure, in their STORIES, technology often brings unfortunate consequences. Worlds are destroyed by incredibly powerful new weapons, plagues bring horrible destruction, or species-wide enslavement. But both the fans and creators of sci-fi are incredibly pro-technology, and extremely hopeful about the future because they believe technological progress will eventually make the world into a utopia, if not a heaven.
ReplyDeleteAs writers, yeah, one of the things we're going to write about are nightmarish scenarios, like the guys on Black Mirror. It is due to the way we tell stories, in the sense that narratives are driven by conflict. A TV show about an awesome online-based reputation system would be dull as dirt. There has to be some sort of conflict to keep us watching.
Also, sci-fi as a cautionary tale is useful for creating a progressive future. By bringing up some of the potential flaws in a technology before its rolled out, it helps us avoid those very flaws. It helps us make a better world.
But I embrace darkly-themed fiction in a way you don't!
I haven't gotten to the virtual paradise episode yet, but I look forward to it. And, I'm not saying I don't embrace it-depending on the kind of darkness. I am still watching Black Mirror, after all. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on it.
DeleteWhile I chose to focus on how stories are told about individuals versus societies, you are right as well that stories are also told about conflicts instead of standard events. I mean, life is sort of that way too. I'm pretty sure we tend to remember (and talk about) the times we triumph over a problem way more than the times things just go well.
First of all, I've only watched a couple episodes of Black Mirror at this point, but I generally agree with your assessment. It is both fascinating and terrifying imagining our society progressing to certain points, especially because it's starting to feel like that future is not so distant.
ReplyDeleteBrandon and I have actually discussed something similar about how technology is unfortunately often only utilized as a negative plot enhancer rather than explored as something that can change our lives for the better.
My thought is that dystopian stories are very popular. We love imagining a world that has come so far, only to fall into darkness. The best part of these stories is how creative and unique they can be,creating a completely engrossing new world, by only changing a few small details about life as we know it. However, we are still typically rooting for a hero to force this futuristic life to regress to how life was in a time similar to what we as viewers can relate to. I agree with what you've said about focusing on nostalgia and the present pleasures. Ideally, it'd be awesome to see a hero correct the corruption of the technological advance while still encouraging the new advances to grow in a life-promoting way.
As each episode is self-contained, it seems to me that Black Mirror also doesn't have all that much time to fully develop a story that would allow the audience to consider a solution where technology was not simply the problem in itself. I appreciate how it attempts to address a frightening potential problem in a thought-provoking way. But I also agree that it can leave typical viewers feeling helpless and fearful, without any implication of how technology is not the real evil itself, but rather recognizing that it is the selfish people who are corrupting it.
Unfortunately, I often find it's way easier to focus on identifying problems rather than presenting actual potential solutions. But I agree that it would be a wonderful step forward for media to create more stories that showed both sides of the story. We should be encouraging more progress and showing how technology can enhance our lives rather than destroy it. An attitude of hope rather than fear can still show potential issues in a more balanced light, while encouraging us to consider the potential positive impact of advancement.